Jeremy Lin sidelined on Taiwan Night

New York, Nearly 2,000 Taiwanese expatriates living in New York and other parts of the United States flocked to a basketball game in the city Sunday to see the Brooklyn Nets play the Houston Rockets on what was designated as Taiwan Night, but the player they most wanted to see remained on the sidelines due to an injury.

Dressed in a white suit, Jeremy Lin sat on bench at the Nets Stadium, which was decorated to celebrate Taiwan culture, while people clutched giveaways of Lin bobblehead dolls.

Lin, the first American-born NBA player of Taiwanese descent, was still suffering from a strained hamstring that has been plaguing him all season and has limited him to 12 games in his first season with the Nets.

Some of his fans, including 2,000 Taiwanese expats, had traveled from as far away as Wisconsin, Washington D.C. and New Jersey to cheer for him on Taiwan Night.

Among them was Hsu Li-wen (???), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, who said she hoped Lin would recover soon and return to the court.

With Lin and Brook Lopez on the bench, the Nets lost the game 137- 112.

In 2012 when Lin was with the New York Knicks, he gained a huge following in Asia, a phenomenon that was dubbed "Linsanity."